The peculiar scene pictured above, of a freestanding but fenceless gate, greeted residents of the Memorial Heights Apartments near the corner of Washington Ave and Studewood late last week. Demolition of buildings 1 through 6 of the complex, on the northwest corner of the complex, for a planned new 5-story apartment complex atop a new H-E-B market, appears imminent.

In anticipation, workers have been constructing fencing (now attached to the above gate) that appears to be intended to surround a portion of the remaining parking lot of the remaining complex. There’s also this construction going up at the corner of Studewood and Washington Ave.:

A pile of dirt is heaped up at the northeast corner of N. Braeswood Blvd and the West Loop feeder road this afternoon, next to a sign announcing the upcoming arrival of a Starbucks to the site. The lot held a Citgo station before demolition in mid-2013; a reader notes that construction crews have been poking around at the site for at least the past 3 weeks.

Just in time for the holiday season, the residential floors of the Elan Heights midrise apartments (officially located at 825 UsenerSt.) have been packaged up in a shiny new layer of building wrap. A sign outside the construction site announces an early 2016 opening for the 327-unit complex, nestled in next to Mango Beach snowcone shop and Little Buddy gas station and convenience store on White Oak Dr. (bottom left in the aerial photo below):

Is the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy the busiest intersection in Inner Loop real estate right now? Two months after the opening of the new H-E-B Montrose Market on the former site of the Wilshire Village Apartments on the southwest corner of that intersection, and just a week after developer Marvy Finger’s official announcement of his plans to replace the Fiesta Food Mart on the southeast corner with a 6-to-8-story “Mediterranean” apartment building, there is a report that the 2 apartment complexes on the northeast corner may be next to fall. It may be a bit more than a rumor: While taking these photos yesterday, Swamplot’s Candace Garcia came across workers who appeared to be surveying the site. For what?

Houston’s own Hanover Company wants to build this 5-story apartment complex on the current site of the Tavern on Gray, just east of the shopping district that extends along West Gray to Shepherd. And it’s hoping to get a variance from the planning commission that would allow the buildings to have smaller setbacks than current regulations allow: 15 ft. along Waugh (where 25 would otherwise be required) and just 5 ft. along West Gray (otherwise they’d need 15). Sure, the Hanover West Gray project would have 2 floors of parking (one of them underground) underneath 4 residential floors — but the extremely persuasive variance request kinda makes it hard not to wish the place had conditions that were less — you know, tough and urban:

APARTMENT INSPECTION REPORT How’s that new apartment-inspection program going? The city has given the new owner of the Garden Oaks Place Apartments across Griggs Rd. from the Palm Center until the middle of this month to make required repairs, after an inspection in August found broken railings, rusted-out columns, exposed wiring, and a host of other problems with the complex. But reporter Ted Oberg says at their current pace it’ll take inspectors 14 years to get to everyone. “According to the law, city crews are supposed to inspect every apartment complex in the city. So far, they’ve visited 217 — less than one a day.” [abc13; previously on Swamplot]

Building a baseball stadium can be a complicated job. But the latest drawings released by PGAL, the architecture firm that’s been doing design work for Sugar Land’s new minor league ballpark, make it look like the project’s designers are doing their best to break down the process into some easily understood components, which should make the task simpler to comprehend for whichever design-build contractor is selected. Can you build some bleachers? Great! How about a brickface strip center, or maybe one of those drive-up apartment complexes? Knew you could! Now just wrap it around the outside from 1st to 3rd base, and you’ve pretty much got it.

A company called JAW Equity Management has bought 5 Houston apartment complexes and is making some changes, reports Globe St.:

The . . . portfolio consists of the 340-unit Westbrook Place Apartments at 7825 Corporate Dr., which has been renamed to The Lodge Apartments; the 294-unit Waterstone Apartments at 7502 Corporate Dr., which was renamed Waterfall Park Apartments; the 252-unit Greenridge Park at 1351 Greens Pkwy., which is now Live Oak Bend Apartments and the 155-unit Wayforest Glen Apartments at 17601 Wayforest Rd. which was renamed Courtyard Manor Apartments. The 224-unit Ashford Point Apartments at 3950 Ashburnham Dr. will operate under the same name.

A good brand name is important when you’re looking for an apartment complex. So the new buyers of the Bridges of Eldridge off Westheimer have decided to rename it the Marquis at Eldridge Parkway. So much more elegant, don’t you think? Who wanted to live in a Bridge, anyway?

Austin’s CWS Apartment Homes already had a community-service matching-grant program called B.R.I.D.G.E. And it owns another complex about 12 miles away: the Marquis at Bellaire. There’s even a sister company called Marquis Residential Development. See how this all works? Judging from the history of the word, we say Houston should welcome its new border rulers.

Maybe the new name (and maybe new management) will do something to counteract some reviews of the 270-unit West Houston complex posted online. Here’s a favorite from late last year, colorfully entitled “Cardboard cutouts would work better in the managers office”:

Animal smell and feces smell in apartment upon move-in. Said they would replace, but never did. After one month, they finally dyed the carpet and gave a cleaning. Still smells like animal feces and they still refuse to correct issue. Just got a working key faub on month 5 of my 6 month lease. Told them I would resign lease if they would fix original issues and give me covered parking for 6 months- nogo. The don’t want good residents. All of the respectable residents are moving due to managements lack of interest.